Avatars, sockpuppets and ventriloquists’ dummies: Selves and others online

When web users express themselves they often borrow others’ bodies, faces and words to do so. YouTubers roleplay as their videogame avatars; users of Musical.ly mime to stars’ songs; Tumblr devotees punctuate their anecdotes with GIFs of Rihanna winking or Orson Welles clapping defiantly; trolls conscript cartoon frogs into campaigns of racist abuse. What do these acts of ventriloquism, citation, mimicry and impersonation say about digital culture, and about identity more generally?

Tags: avatar, online, rob gallagher, sockpuppet, ventriloquists' dummies, videogames